Glasses and Chances
by sandy.zanders
Summary: "I would like to purchase this spectacle nanodayo." Midorima decided against Takao's choices. The spectacle was simple and sturdy. Little did he know the surprises waiting behind his choice of spectacle, one of which being a chance encounter with a ghost? Who would have known! Rated T for mild language, just to be safe. MidorimaXOC.
1. Chapter 1: Glasses

**Summary:** "I would like to purchase this spectacle ~nanodayo." Midorima decided against Takao's choices. The spectacle was simple and sturdy. Little did he know the surprises waiting behind his choice of spectacle, one of which being a chance encounter with a ghost? Who would have known!  
Rated T for mild language, just to be safe.

**Author note: **_I have no clue how the readers would take the story. This is my first fanfic and hopefully everyone enjoys reading it. I'm not sure whether to make angst or a fluff story. The setting of my story starts at the training camp after Serin's loss to Touou. I hope OOCness is kept to minimal._

_This is also thanks to 'waremono Iv' for her support and encouragement.  
__(Sorry for the space in your name.)_

**Disclaimer:** I don't own KnB. It rightfully belongs to Fujimaki Tadatoshi, nor do I own the image. I just own my OCs and plot.

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**Chapter 1**

**Glasses**

It was summer break for all the High schools but club activities were still taking place on campus grounds however Shutoku High's basketball club had an amazing plan for this vacation- a hellish training menu at a beach camp. The first years were told that it was a tradition followed by Shutoku from the beginning of time. Everyone knew that their captain has exaggerated but nobody wanted to stand against him except Midorima, obviously, but he didn't push his luck this time.

Everyone was fired up since their unfortunate defeat in the 'Inter-High' preliminary. Nobody complained about their training schedule nor did anyone slack during practice. Midorima as usual had taken up training alone even after their dismissal. Although Miyaji threatened to kill him, the coach quietly discarded the senior's concern and let Midorima use his three selfish requests. Day after day of training Midorima continued his shooting practice all alone. Surprisingly he didn't complain about the cleaning he had to do after his 'routine' practice.

Just a day before their planned leave for Beach-camp Takao intended to leave early for packing but his luck ran out as he lost to Midorima in rock-paper-scissor and had to stay back to give that pompous ass a ride back home. Oh! How he hated losing! But more importantly he hated the fact that Midorima always won. No matter what studies, basketball, piano anything he always excelled. Takao, who unlike Midorima, had faced numerous defeats. He has moved up in the sport he loves through sheer tenacity, patented only to him. In midst of this thinking he has not forgotten the fact that this was Midorima's first defeat in basketball.

He knew it all along and never discussed outright with him but today Takao was in no mood of playing along with him. He really wanted to go home early and start packing for tomorrow's camp. 'I will be damned if I sleep late after packing!'

Since he lost at rock-paper-scissors he had to wait for Midorima near the school entrance. He never really gave enough thought about the 'rickshaw'. He can't remember how the ritual of playing rock-paper-scissor for riding the rickshaw even started. He let out a huff of steaming air from his lungs and chuckled at himself. He did enjoy teasing Midorima and make things uncomfortable for him. He sure had a good grasp of his teammate's thinking, who is a stubborn guy with high concentration of pride. He would do anything to once see Midorima loose his stoic face. With that thought in mind, he busied himself in formulating a plan for afore mentioned goal.

It served him two purpose, firstly to pass the time till 'Shin-chan' shows up and secondly, his plan might just work out. As soon as he saw his green haired teammate he positioned himself on peddle and without a word did his daily biding, to take Midorima to his prescribed destination. Takao wanted to tell Midorima how pissed off he was on him but decided to ignore things and let it slide.

Takao knew it was complete bliss for Midorima to ride in silence. Midorima had wanted some fresh air and time to collect his thoughts. He had tried to occupy himself with studies and other activities at home and school but there was something amiss. He wanted to break something but that would be an improper display of him. He cannot afford to have a dent in his diligent student life. He was not that careless. He considered himself smart and a man of his duties and schedule. His father has said nothing to him about his defeat and his mom had prepared his favourite dish on THAT day. He should have felt at ease but couldn't bring himself to.

'I lost!' A simple declaration was the only thing on his mind.

"Next time we will win, Shin-chan!" Takao provided nothing more and Midorima pushed up his glasses up the bridge of his nose and grunted with satisfaction and said "Shut up, Takao! I know that."

Takao was not necessarily happy with the response but both of them shared the same intention at that point. Nothing else was needed for the first year duo motivation.

~~O~~

This time the rickshaw was parked, rather abandoned, at Takao's house. Somehow he had managed to get his packing done for the camp on time. And he thanked the heavens that he was not late to reach the meet-up point. He removed his earphones as he spotted his teammates. As usual his cheerful nature took over his tired body and he made his way into his teammate's conversation. Some were excited and the rest couldn't shake their morning self. He couldn't blame anyone since it was only 4 in the morning; they are supposed to board a bus to the camp at 5 but their captain ordered them to assemble an hour early.

"We will be seeing sunrise soon."Takao lazily told Midorima, who was standing the farthest from all with a pen in his hand. 'Today's lucky item is surprisingly small.' Takao breathed in relief.

Midorima ignored the obvious statement from his eager teammate and continued studying the horizon.

"I will call out your names. Answer them. I don't wanna repeat myself." The bark of their ferocious captain shook off all the morning blues out of all the members, seniors&juniors alike.

The coach cleared his throat and handed Otsubo the clipboard. As soon as the call was over the bus arrived and everyone busied themselves in loading their bags and hurried to catch the most desirable seat. It wasn't a surprise for Takao that Midorima was left alone. He smoothly walked past his coach and plopped down next to Midorima. The point guard did receive some piercing stare from the shooter but he ignored him nonchalantly.

The ride to the beach was quite as most of them tried to compensate for the lack of sleep and others didn't feel the need to socialize. Takao fidgeted in his seat. He thought it would be like the times of their middle school field trip.

"Oye, Haruko! Why don't we play like the times on field trip?" Takao asked his neighbour who was a classmate in his middle school.

"Kazunari! No one has the energy-"He was cut off by Miyaji's shouts. "All of you. Is this the kind of enthusiasm you should put up?"

There was a collective gasp and nodding of heads. Almost everyone was woken up by a sudden jolt (more likely a thunder bolt struck them) and cleared away any sign of tardiness. Miyaji-senpai was always known to be very strict and scary. He absolutely hated slackers.

"What game should we all play?" Saionji Haruko asked.

"Do I have to spoon feed you everything. Figure out something. Hopefully your head is not for a show." A very irritated Miyaji rebuked.

Midorima was about to retaliate when Takao effectively covered Midorima's mouth with his hand and cut him off.

"We really don't wanna start off a day with a fuming Miyaji-senpai, right Shin-chan? Our training camp will become excruciatingly painful." Midorima just glared at him.

As Takao removed his hand Midorima retorted "I will let it slide since I was impressed that you could use the word 'excruciatingly' in a sentence ~nanodayo."

"That's mean Shin-chan!" Takao patted Midorima's back with force much more than the necessary since he really didn't want to face the wrath of his senior just because Midorima can't follow senior's commands.

"Hey! You are being unnecessarily-" as Midorima turned to face Takao to give him a piece of his mind at that instant Takao's hand hit his spectacle which went flying towards a now raging Miyaji, who obviously couldn't spot the spectacle fallen near his foot. And the obvious did happen. Miyaji stomped on Midorima's precious spectacle. The end result was as expected. Shattered pieces of glass had spread across the floor and the frame had been maliciously deformed.

"NOOO" Midorima's scream was far from furious. Miyaji realised the grave accident but looking at Midorima's furious face without his spectacle was, how to put this, like watching a kid who has lost the sense of direction. Instead of helping the shooter Miyaji burst down into fits of laughter and Takao was extremely baffled to move a muscle.

"Tsk-" Midorima glared at the general direction of the laughter and when he was about to say something but was effectively cut out by the coach. He is being cut-off quite frequently today.

"All of you would be running 10 laps as soon as we arrive at our destination. Midorima, hopefully you have a spare." With that official wording everyone slumbered in their seat. Takao felt overtly guilty especially looking at his green haired teammate fumble around his duffle bag searching for his spare, hopefully.

"Lemme help you, Shin-chan! I'm sorry, it was an accident." Midorima supplied nothing more and let Takao help his search. He knew it would be far more effective that him blindly searching. Once he had his spare on, he felt as if his life returned back to him. He took a deep breath and said nothing more to Takao and simply settled for a nap. Miyaji felt a tad bit guilty so he made a first year clean the mess and let everyone to nap for the rest of the journey.

~~O~~

'Ah! The beach' Takao inhaled heavily. The fresh ocean's smell was refreshing and rejuvenating. The only thing that dampened his mood was Midorima's constant pushing of his glass and deliberate sighs, Takao confirmed it. His spare spectacle was rather loose and uncomfortable. He had planned to check up on his spare after the final match but he was not himself lately. It was subtle change and nobody can see it. Takao, lately, was not in his greatest mood to pick on his green headed teammate about his fastidiousness. Midorima sighed for the hundredth time. They entered the beach house they had booked, tradition to be followed, and freshened up for practice. Everyone thought they could relax for sometime before practice, but firstly they had to run their 10 laps as punishment given by coach along the beach.

"We will be running back and forth from here till the convenience store 500m up ahead. So 1 km per lap. Now START!" bellowed Kimura to all. Even the captain had to run with them. Coach had taken up onto himself to do the arrangements.

The time they were running along the beach Midorima had to constantly fidget with his spectacle as it bounced lightly on his face due to the uneven surface he was running on.

His discomfort was noticed by their hawk-eyed point guard. Midorima was running as far from Takao as possible. He couldn't risk getting his spare broken too. Unfortunately he had momentarily forgotten about Takao's wide-field vision. After a minute has passed, Midorima has somehow managed to get his spectacle under rhythm although his discomfort was not lessened.

"My uncle owns an optical shop here. He can get you a new spectacle by tomorrow." This whipped Midorima's attention towards Takao, who seemed genuinely concerned.

"Take me there as soon as possible." He gave Takao a curt nod and kept up his running.

"Shin-chan! It won't hurt to say thank you."

"If only I could ignore the fact that my discomfort is caused by none other than you."

"It was an accident."

No response from Midorima.

"Aww~~ Shin-chan! Why are you still mad?"

"Run your laps seriously, Takao!"

Takao retreated knowing that any further persistence will end up in a disaster. He decided to text his uncle about the upcoming visit and the situation.

~~O~~

As the evening approached everyone gathered at the meeting hall. Midorima has used an elastic band to keep his spectacle from creating anymore hassle than necessary. He patiently waited for Takao to complete his chit-chat with a teammate and meet him near the gate.

"Let's go, Shin-chan!" but before Takao could say anything Midorima had walked at least a 100m ahead of him, an estimated safe distance from the mischievous point guard.

"Do you even know where the shop is Shin-chan?" Takao was lazily following Midorima with his hands in his shorts' pocket. After receiving no answer from him, Takao picked up his pace and walked ahead of Midorima. The taller male just fixed his ever irritating spare spectacles and just followed suit. He had to admit that the beach was a good idea. With the flexural improvement in his muscles, the cool breeze also helped him to clear his mind. He didn't mind the broken spectacle in their silent walk towards an optical shop.

Takao entered a rather lavishly decorated optical shop.

"Hitomi-ojisan! Takao Kazunari is making an entry." Midorima thought it to be rather strange greeting but discarded his thought as he saw a brown headed guy mildly in his late 30s running out from his lavish counter towards Takao.

"Kazu! You have grown." Hitomi said as he ruffled Takao's hair. Hitomi was almost 5cm taller than Takao with grey eyes. He looked at Midorima and exclaimed, "So you are the one who needs the urgent fix of frame. Come this way, please."

Midorima took a seat next to Takao and looked intensely at various frames decorating the desk. "Do you want a change of frame or do you want me to fix your current one?" Hitomi asked.

He wanted to change his spare frame since it has gotten rather old but his glasses was updated to his power, he doesn't want to change his glasses just the frame."Could I see a frame that would match my current glass shape?"

Hitomi nodded and bought out more than a dozen frames.

"Wow! Hitomi-ojisan, you have quite a collection. Shin-chan! Take this one. It would suit your tsundere self." Without a glance Midorima discarded Takao's choice. After looking for almost 5 minutes his eyes caught a simple frame. It was a rimless but with a sturdy metallic black side-frame.

"I would like to purchase this spectacle ~nanodayo." Midorima decided against Takao's choices. When he tried it on it felt uncomfortable on his face. Puzzled he pulled it out and inspected it.

"Don't worry kiddo! I will adjust the bridge brushes to your face shape." The smile which Midorima received was quite sweet. He handed his spare spectacle and the new one to Hitomi, who with his professional hand started fixing.

"Shin-chan! You didn't even look at the frames I choose for you."

Midorima effectively ignored Takao as he was bothered with his blurry sight. An assistant has put up snacks and drinks for them and he enjoyed the AC and cool drinks. The shop had some jazz music playing in the background. He was unable to see what Hitomi was doing but was not worried. Takao had started to flirt with the assistant who works in the shop as a part-timer. It was none of his business but with the loss of sight his ears strangely started picking up all the sounds. He crossed his arm over his chest and just inhaled and exhaled slowly. The music was sort of soothing his senses and AC worked wonder on his sun tanned skin.

"Here you go Midorima-san."  
With a sigh of relief, Midorima opened his eyes and put on the spectacle. The frame sat comfortably on his face and the frames had a good grip on the side of his head.

"I added a small spring-system set so that the frame doesn't lose its grip in your face. You will have no discomfort while playing." Midorima was awed by such professionalism by Hitomi. He wished Takao could have learnt something or two from his uncle.

"Thank you very much for your help in such short notice." Midorima politely bowed and paid the money for the service.

"Problem solved!" Takao gave a cheeky grin to both Hitomi and Midorima.

"Come over more often, Kazu."

"I will. Since it is a tradition of Shutoku to train here." With that Takao waved and winked at the assistant and Hitomi let out a small chuckle.

The duo walked back towards the beach house before the start of dinner. If they are late they might possibly have to sleep without food. After a day of practice food is a luxury for all the growing High school boys.

~~O~~

Takao passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow. Midorima wanted to do mild stretching and a walk on the beach sounded good. He bought a 'cold red-bean soup' out of the vending machine and walked on the beach shore and the cool breeze softly nuzzled his hair. It was not full moon but the gentle white light shone the sandy path. A small smile crept his way up and his lip curved ever so slightly.

"You surely are interesting." A voice sounded behind Midorima.

He jerked his head back to locate the source but only saw empty vastness.

"Look up!"

Involuntarily Midorima looked up and what he saw knocked all the breath out of him. There was a girl floating just above his head. She just smiled and kept hovering over his head.

Midorima had a good grasp of reality but the scene before his eyes seemed unlikely. The girl did not cast a shadow so he never realized her presence and worst of all, how was she floating?

Midorima tried to run, speak or walk but his body was rejecting all the brain impulses. He gawked at the strange girl who just tilted her head and smiled.  
"I deduced that your name is Midorima. Nice to meet you. I am..." she paused and turned to look towards the sea. Midorima tried to look away but he was still in his frozen state.

The girl looked at Midorima with a playful smile and said "My name is Ayame and I'm gonna haunt you, ya know!"

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**A/N:** Hopefully I made a decent start. It would be a great help for me if I get to know what the readers thought about my story. Feel free to write a review on whatever you thought about the story.

**~~Ja ne!**


	2. Chapter 2: Encounter

**A/N:**I'm a total newbie in Fanfiction and having received 150+ views made me really happy. Thank you everyone. And I would also thank those who have 'followed' and 'favourite' the story. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter too. I would be busy for about two more weeks and won't be able to upload soon, but rest assured I'm not abandoning this story. I would give special thanks to the guest **midoriforlife** and **waremono. Iv **for the lovely reviews.

Few mistakes have been pointed out in my previous chapter and I have edited it, hopefully to everyone's liking.

**Disclaimer: **Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Tadatoshi Fujimaki. I just own my OCs and the plot.

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**Chapter 2**

**Encounter**

Midorima had never faced a problem in processing whatever he read, saw or heard. He was affirmed to be a capable person when it came to the part of analyzing situations. But right now it seemed that every aspect of his characteristic self eluded him. In his life he was never been this dumfound. "Are you scared of ghosts, Kiddo?" she spoke. Her voice was neither spooky nor ruptured. It was like any other person and at this point his knees gave away and he fell on his rear.

'She just said that she is here to haunt me,' even with that fact in his mind his emerald orbs refused to move away from her face and his mouth was left ajar. She looked like a normal person with her black hair messily tied up and supported by a stick; her fringes carelessly hanging along her face. Even at times like this Midorima was irritated by someone's tardiness but that was least of his problems.

His first thought was to say something but for the first time in his life he was at loss of words. Secondly he didn't like how the playful smile of her was turning into a remorseful one. Lastly he wanted his body to react to his brain's impulses.

"I didn't mean to scare you like this. Can you at least reply back?!" Ayame was getting impatient though she knew that this reaction was expected. She slowly descended and floated just few millimeters over the ground. After few seconds of thinking by both parties, Ayame was the first to react by stretching her hand to help the baffled guy up. Seeing her approaching Midorima's reflexes kicked in, thanks to his daily basketball practice, and he dodged out of her way. His own actions surprised him and he seized the opportunity to make a run towards the hotel without sparing a glance towards Ayame.

Ayame stared at the retreating figure without bothering to follow and smiled, "I made a splendid introduction and I'm gonna play a lot with you, Shin-chan~"

Trying to erase whatever transpired on the beach was not an easy job for Midorima since he wasn't a fan of leaving things haphazardly and finding an exit. But in this case he didn't mind being uncharacteristic. He calmed himself down after he reached his assigned dorm. Slowly he changed into his Thursday yukata and moved next to his futon. He removed his spectacle, donned his night cap and took in deep breaths. As he lay in his futon he couldn't help but think about Ayame. So it was confirmed that he was not a person who would abandon a situation. He started to coolly think about the given situation, without any disturbance. Having regained his senses, he finally found a logical explanation for the 'ghost' incident. He was now sure that everything was just summer heat playing tricks on his mind. The regular menu was changed for the team, the harsh exercise they had to do under the scorching sun, the hot and humid breeze of the sea and his poor rank in Oha-Asa had made him hallucinate about a ghost with a name.

'Brain is a mystery by itself,' happy with his explanation and situational understanding, he finally closed his eyes letting his body to capture its well needed sleep.

~~O~~

Midorima could be described as an 'early riser'; even with exhaustion and fatigue from the new changed training menu he was able to wake up before his alarm could ring. He put on his spectacle, folded his futon and rolled it over to a corner in a neat pile. He looked around to find his roommates still deep asleep. He did his morning stretches and opened the only window in their room to let in some fresh breeze. Inhaling the warm air he closed his eyes to relax.

"You really like the beach, huh."

Midorima hastily turned to face the new voice. This time his body didn't fail to react as he was able to step a good feet away from the dreadful reality.

"I'm still hallucinating." Midorima said, without concerning to hide the displeasure in his tone.

"I wish you were, Dear! But no, Sugar-pie." Ayame winked at him. Somehow she felt like calling him extra-delight-sugar-coated names. She enjoyed the male reaction to her words as his face twisted with annoyance and disbelief.

'What's with all these names, she is even more irritating than Takao.'

Throwing away his irritation he again searched for some explanation but was unable to come up with any logical reason. He slept for about 8 hours, more than enough for his body to recover from fatigue. It was sunny with cool breeze outside so why was this happening.

On the cue he found the solution. 'I have to listen to Oha-Asa.' He searched for his phone while ignoring Ayame openly. She just merely floated towards him via some snoring guys. Midorima plugged in his earphones and sat down to listen to Oha-Asa. Ayame crossed her legs and sat, or rather floated, few millimetres above the ground right in front of Midorima as he waited for 'cancer' announcement.

"_Today Cancers are on eight spot, they would have a relative good day and all their work will reap good results, so look for positive side in any ordeal. Lucky item for the day would be a piece of glass and you would have a great compatibility with Scorpios..." _

He looked at Ayame sitting in front and groaned. He was expecting his hallucinations to be butchered after listening to _beloved _Oha-Asa but she was still floating right before his eyes. If he had to do a meticulous analysis of the situation, he might start doubting his sanity.

He came up with two rather atrocious conclusions after objectively looking into the situation. First conclusion being that this 'ghost' might be true and another possibility being that the girl-with-a-name is a figment of his imagination. There was no other way he could explain the girl. He felt as if he was stranded in an island- a no way out. Is it possible that he was going insane and this girl is some kind of mind mechanism to cope up with the recent loss?

"I'm not a part of your imagination, Sugar!" Midorima flinched at the sound of her voice but didn't falter his scrutinizing gaze on her. Ayame sighed and turned her head towards right. Midorima reluctantly followed her line of sight and saw a sleeping Takao with a toothpaste hanging just above his head.

"I can move object using telekinesis, something a ghost can do after a long practice period." On the cue the toothpaste fell on Takao's face and he just swat the tube of without waking.

"If I was a part of your imagination I would not have been able to influence physical objects, so don't ya worry Sugar, you're not insane."

"Affirmation was unnecessary. I'm fully aware of my mental stability," although unsure of himself, he couldn't let her have the upper-hand. Takao stirred in his sleep when the shooter's voice boomed through the compact room.

"So you are not disturbed by the fact that you can see a ghost?"Ayame quirked her head while posing the question. She had not expected such a reaction from him.

"I have heard about many people, especially children, capable of seeing spirits." He whispered, careful to not wake others because of his voice.

"You are saying that you have a brain of a child and that I'm like 'Casper: your friendly neighbourhood ghost'." Ayame was starting to enjoy the track of their conversation. Even though not planned out well, she was going to have her share of fun by ruffling this guy.

"Do not ever underestimate a child's brain. They are the quickest learner and have a capacity for holding information many times more than an average adult. I'm no way interpreting you as a friendly ghost." He was unable to let her remarks slide by. He was even more surprised by the fact that he was arguing with a ghost. "I just need to find a way to get rid of you or walk out to find pigs flying." The heat was also a culprit in riling Midorima along with Ayame's wide, annoying grin.

Even though Midorima was taught not to judge books from its cover, but he was unable to see Ayame as a malicious evil spirit. If that was the case, he would have been dead long back. It didn't mean that he would let his guard down. But right now he was not armed with enough knowledge about ghosts. If fate decides to show him a ghost and have him dead, so be it since he doesn't have the slightest clue on how to ward off a ghost. He always made his choices after going through facts and calculating his future based on situation simulation and had seldom relied on his instincts. But whenever he did rely, he never failed. So now he relies on this instinct of his as he was running out of options and considers her as a lost, harmless spirit. Midorima was surprised at his ability to not panic and accept the situation, however crazy it may sound.

"You are not denying the fact that you are being childish." Ayame felt like finding all the gaps in the conversation and have her share of fun.

"A child brain's ability and childishness are completely different cases." He pinched the bridge of his nose to calm himself down. This action of his put an even wider grin oh Ayame's face.

"A child's brain is responsible for their behaviour, am I wrong?" she just started to have fun. It's been a long time since she was able to talk to someone.

"I'm talking about a part of a child's brain responsible for intellect not the emotional maturity, you fool," with this he stood up and walked away from Ayame, yet again. He gathered his toiletries and headed to brush his teeth and get ready for breakfast before any more annoyance slow him down on his schedule. All the while thinking about how he even ended up having a conversation with a ghost.

"Child..." she closed her eyes and hummed an incoherent tune and floated around mindlessly.

From the corner of the room, she saw the boys get up groggily and kept a close eye on the raven haired guy, Takao, who chirped around. Takao was able to get most of the guys to shake their morning blues through his chatty self. He swiftly brushed his teeth, put his Shutoku basketball uniform and without wasting a second he caught up with Midorima before the seniors could get them. He threw his arm behind his head leisurely and walked ahead of Midorima. Ayame floated just behind a very furious green-head.

'The day can't get any more ridiculous than this.' Letting out an inaudible sigh Midorima kept his gaze focused on the narrow corridor.

~~O~~

"My body hurts. Sleep didn't help much and now we have to get up for another bout of training," Takao casually started his conversation while walking towards their cafeteria.

"Stop your whining so early in the morning," to this Takao snickered and kept walking.

"You are pretty mean to that guy, Shin-chan." Ayame added being fully aware of the fact that Midorima won't be replying to her in front of others. This just piled up Midorima's irritation but he didn't show it. He has never lost his composure till date and planned to keep it that way. As he thought that Takao has nothing more to converse about, the point guard opened his mouth to his total dismay.

"This place is a dump. Are we really staying here?" Takao didn't bother to look back to see Midorima's reaction nor did he wait for his reply. 'He is complaining now about the hotel. Didn't he hear the captain in the meeting?' Thinking about what Takao just said was useless for Midorima so he didn't reply. He could very well hear Ayame giggling behind him. Takao knew that he was not going to get a reply from his friend so he continued, "I feel like I'm going to see a ghost."

Ayame burst out laughing and Midorima was shocked by Takao's train of thoughts. 'Why couldn't Ayame be visible to Takao?' with this thought he sighed and said, "Shut up, Takao."

Midorima was deeply engrossed in his thought about avoiding any more troubles that he wasn't able to recognize two familiar people standing by the sink. Both he and Takao registered the people standing in there peripheral vision at the same instant. He couldn't believe his luck; Kagami Taiga and Kuroko Tetsuya were both looking at them. And here he was standing, wishing for a normal day. Takao let out a muffled "What?" but Kagami and Midorima held shocked expressions that were mirror image of each other while Kuroko held his dead-panned face and greeted, "Hello. It's good to see you again."

At this point Midorima snapped and accusingly pointed at Kagami as if he is the source of the troubles, "What are you doing here?" The last people he wanted to see were the ones who defeated him and his team. Judging by his stance and facial twist it was confirmed that Kagami harboured the same feeling of resentment. Midorima was now assured that his luck has taken a ride downhill. "I could ask you the same thing!" Kagami retorted back.

"Shutoku has a long tradition of coming here to train together." Takao seemed to be the cool headed one in this heated situation.

"And here you are enjoying your vacation! What's with the tan?" Midorima was not ready to back down. Ayame started to laugh at the ridiculous interaction between the guys. The laugh made Midorima realize that there was another trouble lurking around. Though she seemed to be the lesser of his problems. His face and words dripped with sourness. Here he was doing everything possible to win in 'Winter Cup' and Seirin was enjoying the summer.

"We're not on vacation." Kagami's honest declaration made him calm down a bit and he unintentionally muttered "What?"

"Hey!" A foreign voice interrupted the quarrel between the players, "We're all waiting for you in cafeteria."

Everyone's attention was now focused on the new comer but what they saw shook the very being of them. Looking at the smaller female covered in red liquid and holding the knife dripping with the same, Ayame was the first to scream her gut out and rammed into the roof. For her being a ghost she just passed through it, leaving the boys to handle the menace.

"What is your school, Kuroko?" Midorima's voice ruptured at this statement.

"It's Seirin High School," a blunt reply was supplied by Kuroko aggravating Midorima's irritation to a complete new level, "That's not what I meant!"

"Huh? Shutoku?"

~~O~~

Ayame had her hand clutching her head as she tried to suppress the throbbing in her head. She had immediately dived out of a very bloody scene and into the sky. "Hope the boys are fine," she sighed at the thought of Midorima.

"He is gonna laugh at me for running away. I'm supposed to be a ghost, ya know!" she continued her monologue while wandering aimlessly along the sky. She couldn't feel the breeze as such neither was she able to feel the heat. She couldn't smell the salty ocean nor was she able to hold the sand. Being dead is not something she was looking forward to. She was not sure what she was looking for, not even sure whether her name was actually Ayame. When she woke up dead on an abandoned street and the only sound she heard in her head was 'Ayame' and she assumed it to be her name.

She descended to the hotel and passed her way to the cafeteria where Midorima was sipping his tea with a gloomy aura surrounding him. His friend Takao was being his chatty self and was engaged with some of the other guys on the table. She took in an aerial view of the cafeteria and found most of them in sports uniforms. From her view point it was white and orange polka dots. She slowly glided towards Midorima, expecting the guy to laugh at her for being scared. When he caught a glimpse of her he just grunted and whispered, "So you came back."

"It's not that easy to get rid of me," she said with a cheeky smile.

"A small brown haired girl with tomato juice is enough to fend you off for 30 minutes." Midorima stated as if it's a fact. Before she could retaliate somebody spoke, "Did you say something, Midorima-kun?"

Both of them jumped in surprise to see a blue haired boy who suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Ayame was so shocked that she climbed over to the roof again but stayed inside the hotel. She waited for Midorima to complete his conversation with the smaller teen. She couldn't believe that there are people who could scare ghosts.

On the other hand Midorima couldn't believe the ability of Kuroko to hide his presence. He had acknowledged Kuroko's ability but seeing his ability used against ghost rendered him speechless. 'Phantom sixth man of Generation of Miracles is a serious deal,' Midorima pushed his frame up his nose bridge and left the cafeteria without exchanging another word with Kuroko.

Ayame followed Midorima out of the cafeteria. Finally finding some free time to tease him, she got pretty excited. Before she could mutter anything Midorima halted and spun around to face Ayame. Midorima easily towered over her with a very dark aura and warned her, "You shall not be interrupting the games we are playing. I don't understand what you are thinking but make a note of not disturbing basketball matches." She quickly nodded her head not fully understanding the meaning of 'interruption'. She had not planned to do anything to any basketball games being played. After a minute few things clicked in her brains. "So you are a basketball player and you are holding matches here."

Midorima looked at her as if a parrot was reciting what was told to her, "If you understand that much, you know better than interrupting." He received an extra huge grin and a thumbs-up from Ayame and she said, "Win!"

Happy with her response he started to walk towards the locker room to change into his practice clothes. Even if it was not an official tournament, Midorima was fired up to face Seirin with all his power. He found himself alone in the locker room and took his time to remove his jacket and undershirt and placed it neatly in the empty locker. He took out his white sweat shirt but before he could put it on he heard giggling behind him. Annoyed he turned to come face to face with Ayame. "Why did you follow me here? You promised to not disturb the match."

"Is that so? When did I promise that? I just said 'Win', didn't I?" it was hard for her to stifle her giggles. Midorima groaned at his foolishness for believing in Ayame to understand. He placed his palm on his forehead and exhaled heavily letting his mind to cool down.

"But I must say," Ayame paused and waited for Midorima to look up and when he did she smiled slyly, "You do have a sexy back, ya know." This statement made Midorima realize that he has forgotten to put his shirt on. He turned a deep shade of red due to embarrassment and quickly put on his shirt.

The light reflected on his spectacle so Ayame was not sure how Midorima took her compliment as. She waited for a response or a rebuke but none came out of Midorima's mouth. "Hey! I won't be disturbing your match. I just wanted to tease you before the match and cheer for you before the line-up. Don't get mad." A silent treatment was any day severe than rebukes.

Midorima was trying to wrap his head around Oha-Asa prediction. It was said that he has to see the positive side of any ordeal, but this ordeal seemed unnecessary. He has never been taught to deal with the dead. The only explanation he could muster up in his embarrassment phase is the incompatibility of Ayame's and his zodiac signs. When he looked towards Ayame he was greeted by a concerned look on her face and for a dead person she did have warm chocolate eyes.

Players started to pour inside the locker room to change and before the number of players could increase he asked Ayame the typical question that he asks everyone out of habit, "What is your zodiac sign and blood type?" When he spoke, his voice faltered due to the lingering effect of embarrassment.

The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted it. He couldn't believe that he was stupid enough to not observe the situation properly. But it was too late. Ayame's face hardened and she stared blankly at him. She now felt that the silent treatment was better than a cruel remark, "You wanna know a dead person's birthday. Isn't that sweet of you?"

With that she silently retreated into the growing crowd of players, making sure she passes right through humans so that Midorima can see for himself that his reality included spirits and he has pissed one off.

* * *

**A/N: I wanted to ask the readers if you want me to write the basketball matches in the story or do you want me to skip it. Your opinions would be a great input.**** What do you think about the pace of the story?**

Lemme know your thoughts on this chapter by reviewing it!

~~Ja ne!


	3. Chapter 3: Emotions

**A/N:** Thanks a lot **waremono Iv **for your lovely and long review with the correction. I hope that chapter 3 is also enjoyed. I'm sorry for the (massive) delay in uploading this chapter.

Small warning! I'm not very good at dialogue writing. I have tried my best hopefully to everyone's liking.

**Disclaimer: **Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Tadatoshi Fujimaki. I just own my OCs and the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Emotions**

"Shin-chan! Why are you staring at the wall?"

This snapped Midorima back to his senses, 'How long did I space out for?' The chirpy voice of Takao shook him to reality and his major concern was not Ayame anymore. As soon as he spotted the duo of Seirin entering the locker room his blood pumped straight to his head. He felt elated and a scowl crept its way onto his face. Then without exchanging a single word with his teammates he ritually carried out his preparation for the match.

'I can't waste this opportunity. I will take my revenge even though it is just a practice match. I will not slack at any game thrown', with this Midorima closed his eyes and took in deep breaths as he sat on the bleachers, waiting for his team to arrive. He felt a pat on his back and on cue he stood up with grace and walked without hesitation, like always. Confidence oozed out from his very being and his eyes shone with sheer determination. He felt a bit different from earlier. In the beginning of the training camp he had followed all the routine set up by his capable coach and captain. He had faith in them but made sure to allot some hours for his shooting practice, he couldn't afford to lose his touch on his shooting regime. Even though it was a practice match he felt a spark of fighting spirit in him which he was missing during the training.

He always follows the strict timetable of his daily life and meticulously executes any work thrown at him. Basketball has always been a part of his routine where he poured his heart and soul into like any other work but after being defeated his heart has started to pump faster just at the thought of basketball. This was not new to him. The feeling that he gets when he touches the ball, hears the clear whoosh of the net when the ball gracefully passes through the hoop. It has just been too long since he felt this kind of sensation.

He was fully aware of his changing attitude towards basketball during his middle school years but he never left practices, he aimed for the hoop daily ceremoniously and gave his best in everything. After his talent bloomed he slowly forgot the essence of basketball. His hard work payed off and 'Teiko Middle School' always won but all he did was shoot the ball whenever he could in the match and see it pass through the hoop, gliding along the net and hitting the hardwood floor, over and over again. Trophies and victories did not make him swell up in pride, like it did to others, but made him apathetic toward the sport. He is a man of habit; he did his biding day in and day out, but he was a middle schooler, he didn't question the uneasiness he felt.

He saw his teammates change, he saw Kuroko get hurt and he saw the trust falling apart. He had a choice of helping his teammates but choose to prioritize him and mechanically practice and win in matches. The fire had died in him, basketball was not the same as it used to be. He never took victory for granted but he was confident in not loosing. But on one fateful day something stirred up in him. He now felt complete, he admired the ball in his hand and he savoured the whoosh of the net.

Basketball was simple and fun. He knew this but Kuroko and Kagami made him realize that. He was grateful to them for getting him back on the tracks but he couldn't help but harbour certain resentment towards Kagami.

All these thoughts transpired in his head during the time taken for them to line up. The expression on everyone's face was that of bewilderment. Midorima and Kagami's expression was more akin to that of irritation and the cause being evident. As they proceeded towards the centre of the court Kagami was pulled out by his coach.

'Things are not looking up today.' Midorima sighed, his irritation now numbing him down. He balled his fists to expel some of his anger quietly while regretting not getting a chance to go against Kagami. 'Oha-Asa has ranked cancers on 8th, so maybe today is not good.' He heard the whistle and saw his captain make a remarkable jump for tip-off and pass it to Takao. As he heard the rhythm of the ball hitting the floor his concentration latched itself onto the game- all else forgotten.

~~O~~

Under the scorching sun, Ayame stood with her cheeks puffed and arms crossed across her chest. She slowly let out the air she held and floated near the sea. The wave of water moved past her feet as well as the sea shells that were washed from the shores. Neither the heat of the sun nor the coolness of water affected Ayame. The wind did not mess her hair, not a single strand moved out of place. Ayame is now used to the fact that she will not be feeling any sensation but not seeing her reflection in water still made her sad. With no memories, no sensation, no reflection and no one to notice her, Ayame screamed every night. Nobody could hear her.

"This is how it feels to be a ghost." She murmured to the crab, which walked around her. "Only you would notice. Make me wanna talk crab." A small smile adorned her trembling lips. Yes, she couldn't shed tears. Her cry was silent.

The beginning of her days as a ghost was painful. Ayame couldn't believe that ghost could feel emotional pain. In the beginning of her hopeless journey she wildly ran around trying to talk to everyone hoping that someone could hear her, this is where she realized she is a ghost. Frustration piled up on her and one night she found her telekinetic ability and that put a smile on her face. She filled her lonely days harnessing her ability and still not giving up on finding someone who could hear her.

After 3 months of her becoming ghost she accidentally found a group of High School boys in the area. She tried reaching out to all but she got the same result. Later that day when she was about to give up on this group something unexpected happened. A tall green headed guy, who seemed to be in a hurry, just avoided bumping into her. It could have been coincidence that his path made it seem like he was avoiding bumping with a girl or he could really see her as a person standing. The possibility seemed very distant but Ayame thought to give it one last try and it turned out that there is a person who could hear and see her. The elated feeling in Ayame made her stray out, way out, of her original goal of talking nicely to that person and she ended up teasing him and eventually making him dislike her.

"This is not how I wanted things to turn out!" She squatted down and hugged her knees closer to her.

"He asked me my birthday?" she looked up towards the sky, which was tainted in the hue of orange just like his jersey.

"I shouldn't have gotten mad like that." She sighed and looked to her left.

She let out a muffled laugh and closed her eyes, "He probably forgot that I'm a ghost and treated me as a human. Such a child he is."

"I'm even more childish to get angry at him like that." Her eyes widened with realization at her own stupid outburst.

"I don't have much time. I _must_ start over again." Determination emerged within her once more. She stood up and opened her eyes to be greeted by the ocean glistening majestically under the setting sun. Ayame crossed her arm once again and said, trying her best in imitating Midorima's gruffly voice and cold demeanour, "I'm not childish."

"Yes~~ you are!"

"No, I'm not."

"Yes."

"No."

Ayame abruptly stopped her monologue, which she usually performs to keep away from loneliness, as she felt a person passing through her. She whipped her head to see a running figure along the shoreline. She squint her eye to take a better look at the familiar person. She slowly floated towards the person to take a good look at him.

"Whoa! Split eyebrows. Seriously, ya know!" she exclaimed to no one in particular. But the boy's determined expression didn't falter. That was expected by Ayame. She was about to leave but her attention was drawn to the sound coming out of the male.

She floated near Kagami to grasp his words. Her eyes widened and she started giggling as soon as she heard the familiar name. "Wait and watch you bastard! I will defeat you again, Midorima." Kagami continued as if it is the most natural thing to say while running. Ayame was intrigued by his comments and stayed to hear more. She has cultivated endless patience in the past 3 months, so she waited for Kagami to say something else.

"I will wipe the Winter-cup gym's floor with your ass, idiot."

"I wanna play against Shutoku now."

"This is unfair; I'm not an errand boy."

"I need to get stronger."

Ayame found his dialogue, expressions and his work interesting. He kept changing his dialogue, starting with deterministic ones and then going to whining ones and then taking turns to curse Midorima. His expression was slowly changing to that of exhaustion from running. The weirdest part that Ayame found was that of his shopping. He kept buying one drink at a time and then running back to the hotel and again goes back to buy another can of drink.

"I must say you performed some weird duty, ya know. God bless your scattered brain." That being said Ayame floated back to the hotel to find Midorima.

~~O~~

"Hah...hah..." Kagami panted while supporting his upper body with the help of his long arms on his thighs. For some odd reasons the hair on his arms that were standing quiets down. "Why will my goosebumps vanish all of a sudden?" He stood up again and started running, "Probably the temperature is more stable during nightfall."

~~O~~

Ayame walked past the closed doors of the gym at the time to hear a loud buzzer. The loud noise startled her but she caught a glimpse of green. She turned at the time to see an orange ball fly out of Midorima's hand and glide gracefully in a very high arc; she had to crane her neck to not lose sight of the ball.

"That is way too high, ya know. It won't go in." She was proved wrong instantly when the ball effortlessly entered the hoop, whooshing through the net and hitting the wooden floor.

_Thump_

_Thump_

_Thump_

As long as the ball kept hitting the floor Ayame couldn't take her eyes off the bouncing ball. 'Would my heart have a beat like that?'

At the same time Midorima was trying to calm his beating heart by hearing the faint bounce of the ball that he scored a 'buzzer beater' with. He looked over to the other end of the gym to find the ball slowly rolling to a halt near someone's feet. He wouldn't have bothered to look at the feet any longer if they would not have been lazily floating a few millimetres above the ground. All the thoughts about Ayame, that he had pushed aside, came rushing back to his head. Involuntarily he stepped a few feet back and bumped into someone. He hastily turned to come almost eye to eye with Kiyoshi Teppi. He gave a nonchalant smile to Midorima and extended his hand, gesturing for a hand-shake. Midorima firmly shook Kiyoshi's colossal hand but he didn't express his admiration for him. "Let's have some fun tomorrow too~~", with that the Uncrowned General, Iron Heart, left.

With no one else to interrupt he quickly searched his surrounding for any sign of Ayame. 'She is a ghost after all. Who knows what she will do.'

Takao found Midorima's action to be weird, well weirder than usual, and set out to help him in his new ordeal. Midorima was reminded of his conspicuous actions when he felt a strong pat on his back. "What are you looking for, Shin-chan? Did you misplace your lucky item?" Takao supplied.

Midorima quickly regained his composure and turned rigid but his mind was racing at the speed of light. He pushed his spectacle up his nose-bridge. Takao noticed his embarrassment and continued when he knew that Midorima was not going to answer, "It's not like you to misplace your lucky item. If you are worried about bath, I will make sure I'm the only one there. Okay~~"

"That is certainly not the case here." Midorima countered Takao's assumption.

"Then why are you acting embarrassed?" Takao was good at dealing with Midorima as compared to others but it did not mean he fully understood the shooter.

"It is none of your business, Takao." A curt reply but it never dampened Takao's mood or his patience in dealing with him.

"I will go ahead then, Shin-chan~~" Takao knew that Midorima was sure to create a scene so he made sure that everyone goes before him. While walking down he saw his friend Haruko and started chatting forgetting Midorima for the time being.

"Damn that Takao!" Midorima grumbled and walked the small corridor of the guest-house they were staying at. Today was a day filled with ordeal and he indeed learnt something about Kuroko. He just hoped that he heeds his advice. He also knew that Kuroko was smart enough to deal with his problem related to Aomine. He stopped in his track as he spotted Ayame some metre ahead. He had to strap back his whole body which itched to run away. He internally slapped himself for drifting away into basketball when he had an unresolved issue still lurking.

While he was debating whether to stay, walk towards her or run away Ayame drifted near him. She noticed his reluctance in talking so she initiated, "Midorima-san. Shall we start all over again?"

That question and her tone made no sense. She wasn't teasing him nor was she chirping around like she did back the rest half of the day. He didn't know her enough to judge her behaviour but, 'If it is a peace offering from a ghost I should take it, right?'

"I know you are a little surprised by my behaviour. To tell you the truth even I was too." Ayame chose to continue. "I was unable to talk to anyone for 3 months and when I found someone I went overboard. I hope I didn't irritate you, ya know." She quickly put her hand to cover her mouth and internally screamed, 'Shut it with _ya know_, idiot. Nor he will be irritated even more.'

Midorima had an unreadable expression on his face and by seeing it Ayame's resolve, to turn over a new leaf, shattered. Under the pretext of tough guy and emotionless facade Midorima comprehended various situation and outcomes of his choices. He just didn't pay attention to his facial expression. "So you won't be haunting me anymore?" Midorima wanted to be clear on what she was saying.

Ayame gave him a bewildered look, "I won't be haunting you, well not literally. I would just be staying with you." With that she tried to give her best smile, if that was possible to melt anyone.

"So you will continue to haunt me." Midorima affirmed.

"I won't be troubling you."

"But you are going to stay with me and talk."

"Yes. See, no haunting."

"... Did you hear yourself out?"

"Huh!" Ayame stopped to think for a second. Midorima sighed but was internally relieved that he is not at fault for an angry spirit, about which all folklore did not bear good news. "I didn't completely explain. I see." Ayame hummed resting her chin on her right fist and then shifting deep into thoughts. Midorima tried to act normal when he saw few people passing by but his patience was running thin. It seemed that his day will not end peacefully.

Ayame cleared her throat and spoke, "I cannot leave this area. I have tried to leave before and failed. Knowing that you will be leaving soon, I have a request. Will you talk to me till your stay here?"

"You are not going to haunt me for the rest of my life?" It was good news for him. Ayame did not let her disappointment reveal on her face, but she felt a little hurt from his relief. "No I won't" Ayame reassured. She just has to wait for another person to notice her and who would be here to settle for good and not for camp.

"I see no harm in interacting with you." He wasn't naive or heartless, unlike what people thought otherwise. Ayame beamed up and floated next to Midorima forgetting to maintain her polite form and returning back to her elated giggly self. 'Isn't she bothered by the smell of sweat?' He wondered while walking towards the now empty bath.

Seeing Ayame chirping and giggling he somehow felt a burden, that he wasn't aware of, lift off his shoulder. As he reached the bathroom entrance he stopped realizing that Ayame was still following him. He cleared his throat to get her attention to which she obliged. "I'm going to take bath. Don't follow me in there."

"Ehh! Why not? I don't have much time with you. Let me come in." Ayame whined dramatically.

"Are you serious?" Midorima raised his voice. Partly due to fact that no one was around and mostly due to the Ayame's boldness.

"I won't be interrupting your sleep or basketball which means 80% of your time. I won't miss any time I get with you. I have to tell you my 3 month journey in just two more days." Ayame's voice dipped at the last three words.

"There are naked guys in there. You are a girl." Midorima was scrambling for reasons. 'Why is she ignoring something so obvious?'

"I will be talking to you. They won't be seeing me."

"Are you an idiot?" Instinctively Midorima blocked the entrance.

"You know I can pass through things, doncha!" she winked and moved to prove her point. Midorima closed his eyes so that he doesn't have to see a spirit passing him. A spirit which looked very human to him even though she was floating. He has seen her pass through others but seeing her pass through him was a whole different matter.

But the sensation he felt was unexpectedly familiar. He expected to feel something new and weird but the sensation was that of falling. He knew he was falling even with his eyes closed. He fell flat on his back on the ground and shivered due to rough impact on the cold floor. He opened his eyes to locate the source of collision just to find Ayame straddling him underneath her.

* * *

**A/N:** I hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter. You can always post your thoughts on the review. Thanks for reading!

I'm trying to write at least 3k+ words per chapter so that it makes up for the delayed update.

**~~Ja ne!**


	4. Chapter 4: Good Night!

**A/N: **A big thanks to **waremono Iv** for the lovely and long review. Thank you for taking out time to read my story and write a review. I really hope that you enjoy this chapter too.

Sorry for the delay. My excuse is a rusty one, summer break in my native land so no time for writing. Hope I'm forgiven and to beg for forgiveness I wrote this long chapter.

Thanks to everyone who read this story :3

**Disclaimer: **Kuroko no Basuke belongs to Tadatoshi Fujimaki. I just own my OCs and the plot.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Good Night!**

"Oh..."

"... . ."

A pair of emerald eye beyond the glasses were staring straight back at the deep chocolate brown iris without blinking. He did not notice the amount of time that passed by, neither did she.

Midorima couldn't take his eyes off nor was he able to move his head. He found himself baffled by the situation and his body stopped receiving brain impulses, yet again. That was not the least of his now dysfunctional body. His arms felt as heavy as lead and the muscles on his legs pulled tight pointing out the exhaustion of the training.

Ayame moved to straighten herself while still straddling Midorima underneath her and the expression she wore was that of shock and disbelief. Without much warning Ayame balled her fingers and harshly dropped her fist on Midorima's chest.

"You!" A feral snarl erupted from him immediately which made Ayame realise that she indeed couldn't pass through him.

Midorima couldn't even lift his finger to move the burden, which has induced a throbbing pain on his chest, off him so he concluded that his body has reached its limit. He lay on the floor giving his body some time to cope up with the recent impact with the floor and the fist along with the fatigue from training. The cold floor of the bath gave him a strange sense of comfort amongst the crazy happening of the day. He made a silent prayer to _God_ to make sure that Ayame doesn't go vengeful on him.

Ayame stared blankly at him and continued her ministration on him by placing her palm and not to use much force, unlike what she did earlier. She tried her best to push her palms through Midorima's chest still expecting to pass through him like many other times through countless people and things. And when she was about to get her palms away from his chest she felt an erratic beating through her arms, 'His heart.' Each beat made her unconsciously plaster her palms harder on the beat's epicentre.

She was fully aware of the fact that she was unable to feel anything but the small beats flowing into her arms said otherwise. She was starting to sense everything around her, the heat of the bath and coolness of the floor under her leg. Her dormant skin felt alive. Her nose twitched as it made her aware of her sense of smell and she instantly covered her nose with one hand, 'The smell of sweat.'

She smiled warily, "This is new." She mumbled and moved the other hand over Midorima's arm. Like all the other instances concerning Midorima she was not able to pass through.

She gripped his wrist, removed her hand from her nose and stared at Midorima's face but light shone on his glasses to hide his eyes. "Hey!" She called for his attention.

"Hey!" she repeated when she didn't receive any reply.

'Did he pass out?'

"Hey!" She was starting to get frantic.

Even for Midorima it was difficult to stay calm in such an atrocious situation and the coolness of the floor wasn't helping him much. He wanted to answer her back, shout at her but alas for the first time he was tongue tied. However he was trying his best to wiggle out of Ayame's clutch with the intention of not touching her in the process but eventually failed when his motion caused his hip to collide with Ayame's thighs.

It was very embarrassing for Midorima even while being aware of the fact that Ayame is a spirit. Sensing his awkwardness Ayame swiftly got up and steadied herself and was relieved by the fact that Midorima was conscious.

As soon as she detached herself from Midorima everything turned vacant. She no longer felt the heat, no longer smell the scents and the familiar sense of emptiness returned.

Although she was unable to comprehend this exceptional situation she decided against pushing it further tonight for both her and him but, 'One last time won't hurt.'

She stretched her hand towards Midorima in order to help him up while keeping her other hand's palm over her chest. She assumed that probably in his next touch she could hear her heart, which was silent for long.

Looking at the outstretched arm of a girl or spirit, he wasn't able to decide at the given moment, made him realise the fatigue on both his body and mind. To tell the truth he was little keen on taking help but his pride refrained him from doing something uncharacteristic. He slowly sat up, looking away from Ayame, using the strength left in his arms and upper body from the cold-floor-rest.

Dejected Ayame retreats her arm just in time when someone pass through her, sending her form in a ditzy array. 'Why would I not be able to pass through him? What is with this weird... feeling!' Ayame thought as she regained her form.

"Why are you sitting on the floor?" up until the new comer had said those words Midorima and Ayame had not realised his presence. When both of them looked towards the source of the sound, they panicked to find a blue-haired guy standing, just few inches away.

"This guy passed through me and I still didn't notice him." While saying that she lifted her arm, to put on the new comer's shoulder. This time her arm passed through the boy's torso and she also received a curious gaze from Midorima.

Midorima stood up flaunting his full height, pushed his spectacle further above his nose and showed no sign of his previous event's weakness before Kuroko. Midorima turned to face the phantom sixth man who displayed another feat of his skill but Ayame moved near him first and started to inspect Kuroko.

Midorima was about to say something but seeing Ayame performing various passing-through-solid techniques on Kuroko kept him silent. How was he supposed to say something normal when he was seeing a very ridiculous scene unfold before him, and only he could see it? Midorima's sight shifted to Ayame when she stepped a few steps away. "Are you alright, Midorima-kun?"

Midorima turned his head to reply to Kuroko, only to find him missing. He quickly searched the area to find Kuroko standing near a locker. He was surprised by Kuroko's ability in misdirection but kept his composure when he replied, "There is nothing wrong with me. You should be more worried about yourself and Winter-Cup."

Kuroko gave his rare gentle smile, "We will meet at the Winter-Cup Preliminary."

Midorima walked toward an empty locker while rejoicing in his former teammate's spirit which seemed like the only ordinary thing in his otherwise weird day.

"He is a weird one, ya know." Midorima flinched slightly at the sound of Ayame near him.

He waited for Kuroko to leave before replying, "You are the one to talk."

"Excuse me!"

"You are still not permitted to come to the bath with me." He had not forgotten the original disagreement with her.

"Yeah I won't." Ayame replied monotonously. This perked Midorima's attention towards her but he chose to say, "Good."

"Only on a condition."

Midorima sighed for the umpteenth time and looked at Ayame. "What is it?"

"Come back quickly." She raised her little finger towards Midorima and put her other palm over her chest. Midorima knew this gesture, it is _pinkie swear_. This was epitome of embarrassing things he could do. "I will. Now leave."

"Seal the deal, Shin-chan." She wanted to check her heart before leaving.

"I'm a man of my word." He really didn't want to do _pinkie swear_ but he was wary of angry spirits so he chose not to be harsh with his words.

"C'mon, I can't trust a word of a stranger."

"How am I a stranger?"

"I just met you yesterday night, ya know." She pushed her little finger even closer to him.

"Who asked you to stay near a stranger?" He really was not advance enough to find reasoning with her request. Surprisingly he wasn't able to explain a lot of things today including his tendency to argue with a spirit.

"Just do it for my assurance." Ayame raised her voice as if scolding a child.

'I will make it quick.' With that thought Midorima raised his hand but before he could execute his plan Ayame had already curled her little finger of her right hand on Midorima's little finger of his right hand.

When he tried to break the contact Ayame just shifted to keep her finger wrapped around his. Midorima threw some nervous glances towards the door expecting someone to enter any second to find him in this embarrassing situation. Hardly five seconds later Ayame let goes and floats away giving a wide space between them.

"I will be waiting near the sea shore, ya know." Ayame waved enthusiastically and barged out of the bath area, obviously through the walls.

Relief washed over Midorima but soon the effect of training dawned over his body.

He turned towards the empty locker and started with his before-bath ritual and also kept an eye out for Ayame. She might pull in a stunt like she did while he was changing for practice match. Much to his relief she kept her side of deal and he was sure to keep his side too not necessarily willingly. He neatly wrapped his towel around him and folded his new spectacle carefully and safely placed it amongst his clothes.

Even though it was not his first time in public bath, he was still hesitant. He took extra precaution in making sure in entering an empty bath. He also didn't want to deal with anything anymore and have a quite time, at least while bathing.

He let the warm water sooth his aching muscles and he closed his eyes to tune into proper thinking channel of his brain. Before going into basketball he thought about the incidence in the bath hall. It was his first time dealing with a spirit but from the fair knowledge he has gathered from sources, mainly TV soaps or movies, they say that spirit can pass through things and people and he has seen her do that.

'The expression she wore was of shock which means she also had not expected this', he thought while gradually getting used to the space of the bath.

He had to admit that he was scared when Ayame had straddled him and when she touched his wrist with her fingers he got goosebumps all over his body. When Ayame had put her hand over his chest the hair on his nape stood up like a porcupine and he can still feel the lingering effect. He now knows the feeling of being near a spirit. Midorima, even in warm water, could not forget the cold sensation on his wrist and his little finger where Ayame skin made contact with his.

His thought was distracted when the water level rose signalling him about another presence.

"I feel rejuvenated." A very familiar voice commented. Midorima tried to keep himself calm before normal people but was unable to. Seeing his teammate frown Takao got a bit tipsy, "How long are you going to sulk anyway?" and here Takao has gone lengths to keep this bath empty for Midorima.

"It's starting to get annoying." Takao not in the least expected Midorima to be this ungrateful. He knew that public bath could be embarrassing for Midorima but seeing him sulking kind of ticked him off but he let it pass, like always.

Midorima felt a bit guilty about his ungrateful action towards an unaware Takao and tried to alter his facial expression. Takao caught Midorima's change through his hawk vision and decided to proceed his talk about some oddity he felt from Kuroko.

Midorima had already guessed about the strange moves of Kuroko and was aware of Kuroko's vulnerability and his different aspect of development for new techniques before Takao could voice in his suspicion but he decided to explain everything to Takao, also as a token of thank you. He very well knew that his gesture would be rightly interpreted by his raven haired teammate.

~~O~~

"_**All of my memories keep you near.**_

_**In silent moments imagine you'd be here.**_

_**All of my memories keep you near.**_

_**The silent whispers, silent tears." **_[1]

Ayame listened to the assistant of the optical shop sing the song while leaving the shop after her shift. Ayame stood underneath the broken lamppost, across the lady, staring at the optical shop.

Ayame never missed a day of the assistant Matsumoto's; her badge suggested her name as, singing. She clearly remembers the day when she woke up beneath the lamppost in front of the optical shop and heard a beautiful voice as if beckoning her. She remembers being confused, dizzy and feeling different when she woke up. Ayame however had pushed herself up towards the source of the sound and had greeted her only to not receive any response from the singer. At first Ayame thought the woman to be deaf but moments later Matsumoto passed through her, leaving her in whirlpool of questions.

That was the beginning of her days as a ghost but she made it a point to listen to Matsumoto. It seemed that the songs had meaningful lyrics and all the time it compelled Ayame to think that the songs must have meant a lot to Matsumoto.

Yesterday was a special day for Ayame as she found a person who could see her but today posed another challenging question towards her.

"Am I really a ghost?" Ayame looked down at her palms as she stretched it upward towards the light from the lamppost. Not feeling any warmth from the light she shoved her hands into the pockets of her black Capri jeans and floated behind the singing lady, Matsumoto.

Ayame gave her silent byes to Matsumoto after having a heartfelt time with her songs and voice and then drifted off toward the beach where she would wait for Midorima to show up.

~~O~~

"Shin-chan! How long are you planning to stay in there?" Takao couldn't believe his teammate's action. Takao assumed that Midorima knew the timings for the bath; the closing time is just few minutes away.

"Leave, Takao." Midorima barked when Takao also insisted in two of them leaving together.

"I'm not going to look at you." Takao reasoned while wrapping himself with his towel and looking towards the door of the locker room.

"I know that." Midorima reluctantly got up and quickly wrapped his body as Takao let out some muffled laugh. A vein popped on Midorima's forehead as he heard Takao's laughter reminding him about all the ridiculous things Takao talked about in the bath; other than basketball.

He quickly changed into fresh tracks and sweat shirt without any further delay, or before Takao could notice his absence, he left the guest house and hit the road towards the beach. He stopped near a vending machine and bought a 'read bean soup' can.

The bath was relaxing as expected but he wanted to take a mild walk to relax his still sore calf muscles. As soon as his feet touched the sandy shore he realised something, "Where should I find her?"

He clearly remembered Ayame telling him to meet her at the beach, but where? He was so exhausted after the training and spirit incidence in the bath that his tired brain couldn't point out the obvious.

A part of him was relieved. Even though Ayame has not harmed him or anything around, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. The time she _collided_ with him his whole body was covered with goosebumps and he couldn't shake off the icy feeling on his wrist where she touched. He could clearly feel the after effect of Ayame's cold skin touching his heated body.

'Maybe the goosebumps were due to the body temperature difference.'_ That didn't mean that he hated the cool sensation. _

'It has not been a day with her and I'm feeling this unsettled. Two more days left.' Deep in his thought, he didn't realise the path he had taken. But luckily Ayame spotted him and she floated towards him. She couldn't help but smile and giggle the whole way.

The sound of giggles made Midorima turn his head towards Ayame. This time too he had to strap himself when his body shook with a mild chill. 'I'm not scared.' Midorima somehow managed to stay calm.

"You ain't a deal breaker, ya know." About an hour after her leave Ayame doubted that he would show up, so seeing Midorima made her really very happy. She had to control her elated self so as to not irritate him.

"As I said, I'm a man of my word." Midorima pushed his spectacle out of habit. He noticed that his spectacle didn't require his continued fiddling.

Now that he was here Ayame had not the slightest clue how to proceed. She did promise to start over again so she smiled, "I'm Ayame."

"How did you know my name?" Midorima's brain has started to function normally and he wanted some answers.

"Huh?!" Ayame blinked at his question.

"The first time you introduced yourself you already knew my name. I want to know how?" Midorima was surprised at his energy content as he talked.

"Oh that. I saw a group of new people arriving so I wanted to see if anyone can see me, ya know. I tried until evening but failed. I was about to give up when you avoided colliding with me but you didn't spare a glance as you were in hurry. I thought to give a last try so I went out looking for you. Oh boy! You were fast, ya know." Ayame paused throwing a glance towards Midorima checking if he could keep up with her pace.

"Continue." After all he is one of the people who can keep up with Takao's rambling.

Happy with the reaction Ayame continued, "I lost track of you. Dejected, I roamed around aimlessly-" Ayame struck a dramatic pose to show her broken heart.

"Just stick to the point." Midorima interrupted making Ayame pout in dismay.

"Fine! I saw a green headed guy and heard others call you by name. That is also where I picked up 'Shin-chan'." She quoted using her fingers.

Midorima closed his eyes and pinched his nose-bridge at the sound of that irritating name, "Don't call me with weird names."

"Aye, Aye." She gave Midorima a two-finger salute.

"Why couldn't you pass through me?" This was something that needed to be clarified.

"...I don't know. That incident triggers more question than it answers; for me at least." Though she replied with a smile, the sadness was evident.

Midorima shifted to look away from Ayame and towards the ocean. The sound of sea breeze was filling the silence that had befallen the duo and none of them wanted to start. When he looked back at Ayame he couldn't help but notice that her hair did not move from its place even with the strong breeze. This sight demanded a quizzical look from him but he didn't want to break the silence that was formed, rather he didn't know how to break it. It was not his strong suit.

'How does Takao manage to break the ice?' he thought while trying his best to find a feeble conversational starter.

The silence reminded Ayame of her precious time with Midorima passing by quickly. She had to talk to him and also had some experiment to be conducted, "Midorima! Let's go to the water."

"What!" 'That was random,' Midorima thought but gave in eventually seeing no reason for objection. He was secretly curious about Ayame's plan too. He folded his track pant above his knee and followed Ayame and he found it comfortable in letting Ayame do the talking.

"Use honorific while addressing me." Not that it would make much of a difference but he still told Ayame. She just nodded and floated towards the sea.

He stood next to Ayame feeling the warm water of the sea washing his feet and sending slight tinges up his spine. He had never ventured into the sea at night so he wasn't aware of this pleasant feeling. The moon was high up in the night sky and the sea glistened smoothly under its gentle glow.

Midorima shifted his footing to match the rhythm of the undercurrent of the waves crashing against his leg. He had to admit that Ayame's idea was great but he was unable to say it out loud. The tide of the sea under the influence of the moon gave him a feeling of strength from within. The gentle breeze ruffled his hair slightly and glided across his face and body making him feel all the air molecules dancing in their vortex over his skin. Somehow he felt his eyelids closing and his mouth twitching.

On the contrary Ayame was standing there hollow and soaking in the lovely sea only through sight and sound. The gentle crashing of waves on the shore, sea shells and on itself reminded her of the sweet rhythm of Matsumoto's song. She turned to face Midorima to convey a message just to find him enjoying the sea with his eyes closed.

'Goodness lord!' Ayame's mind screeched when she took in the sight of a _smile_ adorning his face. It was nothing special but the small curve on his face softened every other feature of his.

She concentrated on his face and soaked in the beautiful sight. The moonlight was softly highlighting his chiselled cheekbones and his long eyelashes swayed with the erratic breeze. His still wet locks slashed in the wind to dry. "Pretty!"

Hearing Ayame, Midorima opened his eyes and looked at her, "Yes."

Ayame knew Midorima was talking about the sea but she didn't feel like explaining her statement, 'Pretty until he talks.' She silently was thankful that she didn't say this aloud.

Midorima opened the can he had bought and drank his favourite drink which surprisingly blended well in the given surrounding and all his uneasy feeling about Ayame forgotten. Silence again engulfed the two but it was a comforting one.

"There is a woman who sings really well." Ayame started as she didn't feel like keeping silent after her long search for someone who would notice her.

"Hmmm..." He didn't want to know so he brushed it aside. That didn't dampen her spirit and she continued to tell Midorima some random things. On the other hand Midorima just listened to her chit-chat but his reply was curt or improper at times. He wasn't used to gossiping.

The amount of reciprocation Midorima gave was more than enough for Ayame. She kept her talks superficial because she couldn't discuss anything else with him. What should she tell him? Ayame had no answers and she was sure Midorima had none and on top of that he would be leaving soon hence she decided to talk about random stuffs that popped in her head. She remembers nothing from the time she was alive so there was no point in talking deep matters with Midorima.

She paused when Midorima started to move away from her. She called out, "Where are you going?"

Midorima turned to give a glance over his shoulder before facing away, "I'm retiring to my bed. I have to complete my R.E.M cycle before 6am."

'I promised to not interrupt his sleep and basketball. Oh well.' Ayame just floated next to Midorima and resumed her jibber jabber.

~~O~~

Midorima was successful in making Ayame not look at him while he changed into his _Friday_ Yukata and when he turned to give her an_ okay_ he saw the reason as to why Ayame didn't argue back. Ayame was just coolly staring at his teammates cum roommates changing.

"You little!" Midorima opened the sliding door of the cupboard, dragged Ayame by her neck, shoved her inside and closed the door before anyone cold notice his weird action.

"Really! I thought you could do better." Ayame spoke as she casually walked out of the cupboard.

"What were you doing?" whispered Midorima to Ayame.

"Collecting the perks of being a ghost." Ayame whispered to Midorima by mimicking his actions.

Midorima gave up for tonight; he was too tired to even argue. He made his way towards his futon and spread it at his chosen spot and sat down. He removed his nightcap from his duffle bag and put it on.

"Pfft."

Midorima looked accusingly at Ayame who was trying hard not to burst out laughing. He kept glaring at her until he was disturbed by Takao, "Shin-chan. Glares can't burn a hole in the wall. You can come closer to us under the fan if you are feeling hot."

Ayame burst down into a laughing maniac much to Midorima's irritation. How he wished for others to see the condition he was in. If he says anything to anyone he probably would be sent to a psychiatric ward. So he said nothing and slowly slid onto his futon.

Takao didn't say anything further because he was knocked out as soon as he touched his bed. Everybody had also quickly fallen asleep. Seeing this Midorima prided in having a much higher stamina. After all the events of today he is still awake or at least conscious.

'It has been a very long day.' He thought as Ayame's ridiculous laugh quiet down.

He looked at his palm which he had used to pull Ayame into the cupboard. He could feel the same icy sensation as earlier but the goosebumps were not prominent enough.

"Good night, Midorima." Ayame said after she had calmed down.

This interrupted Midorima thoughts and he whispered, "Good night."

He looked at Ayame who unexpectedly moved towards the window and out of it. Midorima internally cursed himself for thinking that she would stay in the room.

He removed his spectacle and put it on the right side of his head and closed his eyes laying straight on his futon. His thoughts lingered a bit on the time on beach when Ayame was talking. He did pay attention to the trivia she was supplying but his eyes roamed a little on her. Under the moonlight he has to agree that she looked spooky with veins being prominently visible on her neck along with shallow bags under her eyes and her unwavering hair in the wind. Her complexion was very pale and her fingers were bony and long. There were things that he noticed that was normal about her like the laugh, giggles and her thoughts, incomprehensible most of the time, and her warm chocolate eyes.

'She could easily be as tall as Akashi.' He was confident in his calculation.

Before drifting to sleep he dwelled upon those icy sensations which still lingered on his skin. He knew his body felt mild chills whenever he saw or was near Ayame but he didn't run away. He found it very weird that he easily walked towards the spirit even while receiving signs from his body.

'It must be adrenaline.' He paused for moment thinking about his actions. He let out a smile despite himself content, again, with his explanation and let sleep take over his worn out body.

Out on the streets Ayame roamed with a small but a known thought on her mind, 'I really don't have a beating heart.' When she made contact with Midorima via _pinkie swear_ her heart didn't even beep unlike what she felt from Midorima's chest earlier. Her heart lays silent, forever.

* * *

**[1****]**Song named _'Memories'_ and it belongs to _'Within Temptation'_.

I thought their lyric set nicely with Ayame's situation, especially the last line and it is a very beautiful song. (You can listen to it)...  
Genre: _Symphonic metal_.  
Singer: _Sharon den Adel_, in my view she is a Goddess (Beautiful voice and face).

**A/N:** Finally I was able to end the first day. I had to before anyone kills me. Feel free to tell me if I'm _excruciatingly _slow with description or was it all right. I tend to sway away~~

**Waremono Iv:** I hope you liked it. I successfully made it more than _4.8 k_ words. Even though I **love **Midorima I'm not fully equipped to understand him so I hope he is not OOC.

**~~Ja ne!**


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